Content Advisory: This article discusses a serious health scare, coma, last rites, and near-death spiritual experiences. Reader discretion is advised.
Rudy Giuliani says he had a powerful spiritual experience while critically ill with pneumonia.
The 81-year-old former New York City mayor was hospitalized in early May after a severe case of viral pneumonia caused serious breathing issues. His condition became critical enough that he was placed on a ventilator, and a priest was reportedly called to perform last rites.
Giuliani later returned to his online show, ‘America’s Mayor Live!’, on May 13 and told viewers he now feels fully recovered.
“I feel like I’ve recovered 100%,” he said. “I’ve been home a few days and doing really, really well.”
Rudy Giuliani Recalls ‘Spiritual Experience’ During Coma
Giuliani said that while he was in a state of being “out of it,” he had what he described as a “very significant spiritual experience.”
“I would equate it to a dream of being on line headed for, I can’t say headed for heaven, headed for a trial with St. Peter,” he said.
He added that the experience involved his late close friend Peter J. Powers, whom he described as “my Peter.” Powers was Giuliani’s longtime friend, former campaign manager, and first deputy mayor. He died in 2016.
Giuliani said Powers spoke “very significant words” during the episode. After waking up, he made sure to write them down so he would not forget them.
“As soon as I could, I wrote it out so that I wouldn’t forget it, and it’s meant a lot to me,” Giuliani said.
Priest Was Called For Last Rites
Giuliani’s doctor, Maria Ryan, previously said he became so ill that a priest visited him at his bedside and anointed him.
“He’s a fighter,” Ryan told Fox News, adding that Giuliani’s recovery felt almost miraculous.
Ted Goodman, Giuliani’s spokesperson, said the former mayor’s respiratory illness was complicated by restrictive airway disease, which he linked to Giuliani’s exposure during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Goodman said the virus quickly overwhelmed Giuliani’s body, requiring mechanical ventilation to stabilize his oxygen levels.
By May 4, Giuliani had improved enough to begin breathing on his own, according to updates from his representatives.
Giuliani Plans To Share More Later
Giuliani said he has already discussed the spiritual experience with a priest, but he is not ready to share all the details yet.
“I don’t want to embellish it,” he said. “I don’t want to deny what was there.”
Although Giuliani and his doctors have not formally described the episode as a near-death experience, his account resembles reports often given by patients recovering from critical medical events.
For now, Giuliani is presenting the experience as deeply personal, not as something he wants to overstate. But after being placed on a ventilator and receiving last rites, his recovery is already dramatic enough.
